Lance Armstrong 'Qualifies' for Leadville 100

August 1, 2011

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong surprised everyone by showing up at the last minute to compete in the Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey—a qualifier for the Leadville 100. Despite the win, Armstrong say’s he’s “too old” to compete in the 100-miler.

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Last-minute addition. It was announced at the racer meeting on Saturday evening that this year&rsquo;s Alpine Odyssey would be joined by some pretty lofty company. Sure enough, at 6:29 a.m., a minute before the race began, Lance Armstrong joined the field of competitors at the starting line below Mt. Crested Butte.

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The would-be men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s winners, Rebecca Rusch and Lance Armstrong, discuss gearing and controlled starts as the peloton is escorted out of Mt. Crested Butte and through downtown.

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Travis Scheefer, Cameron Brenneman, and Lance Armstrong round the corner. About 10 miles into the course, the three initial leaders attacked the almost-1,000-foot climb of the Slate Switchbacks, or &ldquo;Slate d&rsquo;Huez&rdquo; as it is lovingly called by Crested Butte locals.

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Lance Armstrong reminds himself of the disparities between road and mountain competition as he hikes a bike through the 100-yard-long snow plug below Emerald Lake. Racers had to cross this snowfield at 11,000 feet twice during Sunday&rsquo;s race.

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As they began their second lap out Washington Gulch, Travis Scheefer, Greg Krause, and Lance Armstrong had established a lead on the competition that would prove insurmountable. Here, the three racers are dwarfed by the vastness of their environs.

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After a hard-fought morning and despite riding in third position throughout the second half of the race, Lance Armstrong overcame Krause in the final stretch of singletrack and crossed the finish line first in 4:32:21. Though the win qualifies the seven-time Tour de France champion for the Leadville 100, Armstrong said he was &ldquo;too old&rdquo; to compete in that race, and reminded the crowd that he has &ldquo;retired&rdquo; from bike racing.

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